These seven moves will tighten and trans­form your glutes—and melt fat all over. Then opt for three key sources of lean pro­tein to fuel your mus­cle mak­ing.

AA toned butt is an amaz­ing thing. Strong glutes are your body’s pow­er­house—they can help you burn more calo­ries, keep you sta­ble, and make you bet­ter at hik­ing, cy­cling, yoga, or any ac­tiv­ity, says Court­ney Paul, the founder of CPXpe­ri­ence train­ing and a mas­ter trainer at Ripped Fit­ness in New York City. Build­ing a foun­da­tion of mus­cle on your back­side can also boost your me­tab­o­lism around the clock. “The mus­cles that make up your butt are the largest in your body, so strength­en­ing them can have the big­gest pos­i­tive ef­fect on your calo­rie-burn­ing po­ten­tial,” he says. And let’s not for­get: Mus­cle back there can also help your rear ap­pear smoother and perkier. “Train heavy, hard, and con­sis­tently,” says Paul, who cre­ated this tar­geted mix of lower-body moves to en­sure no fiber is left un­firmed. Do the rou­tine twice a week for three weeks, and you’ll start to see def­i­ni­tion in your butt, quads, and ham­strings. You’ll also no­tice a boost in your over­all strength and stamina. Buns of steel, in­deed.

FOOT­BALL SQUAT WORKS BUTT, QUADS, HAM­STRINGS

Stand with feet hip-width apart and palms pressed to­gether at ch­est, el­bows bent down­ward to start. A Squat as low as you can, rest­ing el­bows lightly atop knees. B Main­tain el­bow-knee con­tact as you straighten legs, send­ing hips up and back and fold­ing for­ward from waist. Re­turn to start. That’s 1 rep. Re­peat for 60 sec­onds. SCALE DOWN In­stead of tak­ing el­bows to knees, cross your arms with hands on top of shoul­ders. SCALE UP As you re­turn to start, pulse the squat twice.